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Ashkenaz – bourbon. Sephardim – Scotch.
It is not helpful to compare differences among Jews by comparing them to differences among Christians, unless you actually understand the differences among Christians. (You also have to understand the differences among Jews.) And you won’t learn the differences among Christians by studying Torah.
A Protestant Christian once told me that the differences among mainstream Protestant denominations are so slight that most Protestants select their sects based upon the personalities of the church ministers in their neighborhoods, which implies that the doctrinal differences, if any, are insignificant. My informant may be right about some Protestant sects, but the fundamentalist Protestant sects seem to genuinely believe that mainstream Protestants sects are so doctrinally wrong that they do not regard them worthy of the name “Christian.”
I for one do not consider it appropriate to consider Jews to be divided into “sects”. I think the concept of “sect” is alien to Torah. Jews differ in the ways they interpret Torah and in their understanding of what Hashem expects from us. Reform Judaism seems to think Hashem wants us to be nice to everyone everyday and go to shul twice a year. Some Orthodox think the opposite: go to shul everyday and be obnoxious to everyone twice a year.
The discussion on this thread, at a web site supposedly read by Torah-observant Jews, shows very little influence of Torah. The answer to the question – what is the significance of this or that kipa – should be answered by reference to the texts of the Torah, Talmud, and the written record of the gedolim.
Instead, most of the responses posted so far are anecdotal or bad, unscientific “surveys” of observed behavior.
Can anyone give a Torahic answer to the question posed?
North Pole. But with the current decrease in Arctic Sea ice, now not so much.
There is something fishy about this post: the penultimate paragraph describes the blood test being discussed in the article as one that is performed so that a pregnant woman can decide whether to keep the baby. That is not a decision which frum women make, except when a pregnancy threatens her life. It leads me to question whether the poster is genuine or whether this is some sort of hoax.
I know very little about spina bifida, though I do know it is an extremely debilitating congenital disease, and so I cannot say that any advice proffered in the posting is wrong (or right, for that matter). But the casual reference to “keeping the baby” raises some questions about the source of this post.
I heard of the egg-painting thing from someone who gave me a kosher recipe for rabbit stew.
You do yourself a disservice by relying on simple-minded mnemonic devices to remember the meanings of numerator and denominator. It is better to understand what a fraction fundamentally represents.
It is easy to remember if you keep in mind the fact that the numerator and denominator are the components of a fraction, which is a mathematical expression that numerically represents a number less than one, i.e., something that is divided into pieces. The numerator tells us how many pieces there are – it has the same root as “number” or “enumerate”; and the denominator tells us how many pieces the whole is broken into. So, for example 5/8ths tells us that there is a fraction – a number less than 1 – that consists of 5 pieces of a whole that is broken into eight pieces, or eights. This if far more meaningful that “numerator is on top, denominator is on bottom.”
Can someone help me with remembering the difference between “terminator” and “refrigerator”?
To HaLeVi: If you have 2 wives, it is obvious that you loved the first. Why else would you marry a second?
To nfgo3: Can’t you follow the rules – just post your party registration, no discussion, no reasoning, no facts.
To yehudayona: You gotta get out more. Democrats in the last 5 mayoral elections have lost. Your statement was conventional wisdom not so long ago, but times change. And conventional wisdom is vastly over-rated.
Oomis: There is no reference to Torah in your comment. Torah ought to guide us on the question of capital punishment.
As for your proposal to defile bodies of Muslim terrorists: consider what effect, if any, Arab defilement of Israeli soldiers has had on the IDF, the settlers, and the Israeli population. If anything, it has inspired all these groups to strengthen their resolve to remain in Israel (state, or E’Y, as applicable). So your behavioral approach to the death penalty question is flawed, and your Torah approach is missing or unstated.
This thread is a terrific idea – no discussion, no reasoning, just labels. Sometimes there are more threads like this than we realize.
To Jewish Teen: I agree that gelila is fine, and I am happy to get it whenever it is offered.
I am fascinated to learn that there are “cool guys” in yeshiva. Please tell me what makes them cool.
bentch: You may be correct that Bayit Yehudi voters were not casting anti-Chareidi votes, but their party has plainly taken an anti-Chareidi position, i.e., that it will not join a coalition that includes Chareidi parties. That position, of course, can change as negotiations to form a governing coalition proceed, but the Chareidim must face the fact that they lack support in the new Knesset.
To bentch, re your second comment: Yesh Atid and its current ally, Bayit Yehuda, won as many seats — 31– as Likud Beteinu. Your notion that only a sixth of the voters were anti-Chareidi is mistaken, if not fanciful. The initial post raises reasonable questions about what the Chareidim need to do to advance their political interests, and his/her recommendation to take a hard look at the facts is good. The US counterpart of the Canadian Conservative party – i.e., the Republicans – would be wise to follow his advice. (Fortunately for America, that won’t happen.)
First of all, it is spelled “Auerbach,” and why are you interested in him?
To Health: There is an organization that is seeking to carry out the proposal you mentioned in your last paragraph. It’s called Jews for Jordan. Catchy name. They even sell t-shirts to promote their ideas.
This tragedy begs a number of questions:
1. Were the victims wearing seat belts? Seat belts do make a difference, and I note that the driver of the livery vehicle in which they were killed walked away with minor injuries, possibly because he was wearing a seat belt and was not thrown around by the impact of the speeding vehicle.
2. What ever happened with the driver of the car that killed the child Gavin Cato. He was 7 or 8 years old and was killed in Crown Heights in 1991 when a frum driver in the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s vehicle escort ran a red light. The death of the child resulted in the pogrom against Lubavitchers in Crown Heights. Last I heard, the driver fled to Israel. Did he ever return? My vague recollection was that because he committed only one traffic violation (running a red light), he would not be charged with vehicular homicide. The reports so far in the Glauber-Acevedo case indicate only that the driver was going at an excessive speed. I personally think that we are too soft on traffic violations, and that a speeder who has an accident that results in a death should be guilty of manslaughter, in the absence of any driving violations of the other vehicle.
Let’s all remember that the facts we have are not complete, and we should not compound a tragedy with an injustice.
To About Time: I honestly could not make head or tail of the article you posted by Lahav Harkov. I don’t know whether this reflects on my ignorance or the quality of Mr./Ms. Harkov’s article. What is clear is that Mr. Netanyahu is not especially popular, that the Israeli electorate is sharply divided, and that a majority of Israeli voters want to diminish the taxpayers’ support of Chareidim and the influence of Chareidim over life in the State of Israel. There is also growing impatience with the cost to the taxpayers of supporting and defending the settlers, and the non-cash costs to the citizens of the State of Israel of the ongoing stalemate with the Palestinian Authority.
I think many voters want to try a new tack or a new posture with the PA, though they (and I) are skeptical that the PA can or will move forward in implementing a 2-state resolution of the Israeli-Arab conflict.
As for the Chareidim, they should seriously consider a modification of their “business model,” i.e., heavy dependency on government support. A Chareidi tzibur with independent income and wealth would have much more influence on Israeli society than in currently does.
To potpie: Why would you advise anyone on this web site to join the Palestinian Authority? And how many Jews do you think they hire?
The opening post shows some good insights for a 14-year old, or some egregious gaps in the education of a 21-year old.
Statistics is a branch of mathematics that enables us to draw reliable conclusions about a phenomenon based on a sample of information that about that phenomenon. Generalizations are non-statistical conclusions about a phenomenon that are untested and unproven, e.g., all Jews love money, all frum Jews are crazy. all goyim are stupid. Generalizations are an important tool for yentas. Statistics are an important tool for scientists.
To the OP: The more important question is, are there any good marriages in Baltimore.
Ty, the opening poster, writes in part: “The police and paramedics broke out in laughter, quickly figuring out that the sign and dummy were nothing more than a creative Purim endeavor by the boys.”
Do you mean to tell us that the police and paramedics have knowledge about Purim pranks? That’s unbelievable – I don’t me that’s terrific, I mean I cannot believe that.
Who does the public relations for the Chicago frum community? If this story is true, they are doing a remarkable job – or the Chicago cops really know their neighborhoods.
To “The little I know”: You have aptly chosen your screen name. The no-parking zone in front of most shuls serves a very important purpose: it is there to enable fire fighters to access the premises easily if, c”v (as they say in the Fire Dep’t) there is a fire. Even if you were not wrong, i.e., if such no-parking zones served no
And of course, whenever you break the law, you should remove your kippah to avoid a chilul Hashem.
To mamashtakah: I find your post hard to believe. Please name the rebbetzin and the name and town or neighborhood of her shul, or withdraw your questionable prank.
And one other thing – tardiness at a school for 3-year olds is not a serious matter, even for the Shabbos abba in a dress.
It takes a very small amount of strength to remain composed and calm in heavy traffic, which is admittedly an annoying situation. Parents should demonstrate to their children that they can deal with annoyance calmly. To deal with it otherwise is immature.
To Confucious, re your second comment: I think the opening poster’s point is that people in Jerusalem who object to Charedim in their neighborhoods are not anti-Semites, they are anti-rock-throwers. And of course the opening poster’s second point is that rock-throwers, especially on Shabbos, are not Charedim in a meaningful sense.
To the OP: All your postings on this thread show that you are either (a) a fake or troll trying (successfully) to pull a prank, or (b) spectacularly, collossally uneducated.
For starters: Your second post re-emphasizes what you sought in your first post – comments from anyone taking the same pills as you. But neither post identifies the pills in any way, other than that they are white and expensive. No one can possibly answer your question.
You say that you are overweight and, therefore, unhealthy. Taking unknown pills is probably a greater and more immediate threat to your health than your obesity (assuming that you are obese, which you do not disclose). How can you not know this?
You ask whether the pills contain Prozac. I am sure that you can confirm from reliable online sources that Prozac generally inhibits rather than encourages loss, but you are afraid that it may be in a pill you are taking at time when you have lost 62 pounds. You clearly do not have the most fundamental knowledge about medications.
You mention an article about a frum couple in Jerusalem arrested for selling pills. You have no basis for determining whether the pills you are taking are the same pills that this frum couple was allegedly selling. Your problem is not only lack of information, you seem to lack any ability to apply reason to some simple facts.
So, what do you do in Lakewood?
To Ferd: Would you please post the source that says that the Iranian foreign ministry strongly supports the nomination of Senator Hagel for Secretary of Defense. And would you also ask yourself how and why any foreign ministry, particularly one that has such bad relations with the US, could possibly support or othwerwise affect the nomination of a secretary of defense.
To the OP: When the store offered you a price of $20, it beat the Amazon price by about $4, after you add in Amazon shipping, so you were unwise to decline the store’s offer. If you are going to be a schnorrer, at least be a good one.
As for your belief that a store should always match an online price, that is utterly wrong. There is some halacha that prohibits overcharging, but, based on the facts as you have presented them, that is not present here.
The answer to the OP’s basic question is simple: While it is assur for a dayan to give an opinion without hearing both sides of a story, those of us in the Coffee Room are not dayanim – we are yentas and kibbitzers. Half the story is grist for our mill.
To lakewhut: I love Israeli politics. It makes no sense.
Snowbunny: You can reduce stress by writing shorter sentences. Your second sentence ran on for several lines and several separate thoughts. Writing shorter sentences will help you calm down and make you sound more articulate.
To “I can only try”: Best. Post. Ever.
As Richard Blaine said to Victor Laszlo: “We all try. You succeed.”
To KovodHabriyos: “Free delivery” means the merchant does not charge a delivery fee, so nothing is owed to the store that arranges for the delivery or sells the goods. That does not settle the question of whether a Jew is obligated to pay the individual who actually provides the service of delivering the merchant’s goods. I would like to hear from a genuine, qualified rabbi on whether or not one can decline to pay a deliveryman/woman for his/her service. I think prevailing practices and expectations in a community would be important guidance in answering this question.
To WIY: Tips are part of a deliveryman’s/woman’s compensation. He/she cannot put food on his/her own table with your smile. Courtesy, i.e., chesed, is a separate mitzvah, but it is not a substitute for your obligation to pay for service.
The best way to achieve parental control is to put your parents in a nursing home.
Seminaries charge non-refundable application fees for the same reason that any enterprise charges anything for anything: because people pay it. If the fees were higher, the seminaries would get fewer applicants. If the fees were lower, the seminaries would get more applicants. Higher fees, therefore, give the seminaries fewer applications to wade through, and probably screen out the applicants who can’t pay the full freight.
There is a fair amount of halacha on pricing. Has anyone tried to apply it to the pricing of yeshivas and seminaries and analyzed whether the halacha is being followed?
To rebdoniel: Your fluency in French, in addition to your fluency in English, Hebrew and Aramaic, probably enhances your ability to understand Halachah.
Veltz Meshugener’s first comment is, undoubtedly, the best comment ever in the Coffee Room.
To coffee addict: If he’s Yeshivish Lite, there is no shadchan.
Hip flasker: you are on the right track, but how about this: great taste, less fulfilling mitzvahs.
To Chasiddishe Gatesheader: If the writer to whom you object is not a native speaker of English, i.e., he was not born in an English-speaking country, and/or he has no formal education in the English language, we should give him/her a pass on his errors, even if it makes our eyes hurt. If, however, he/she is born in the US and educated in the US, his/her English skills are disgraceful. And if he/she was educated in a yeshiva or Jewish girls’ school, we should be alarmed that such expensive education gets such mediocre results.
I have watched “America’s Got Talent” for less than 15 minutes, and from that very small sample, I have concluded (perhaps wrongly) that it is trash. Sticking a tznius Jew into the mix is not a kiddush Hashem. It creates the wrongful impression that the show is not trash, or that Jews can mix with trash and not be affected by it.
MorahRach’s second posting tells us she does not get gas from “Arab stations”. If you live in the Northeast, e.g., New York, practically every drop of gasoline is from Arabs, no matter who the retailer is.
To the opening poster: How does the president of the US pressure the US Supreme Court? It cannot be done. Why can you not understand that (a) the Supreme Court justices are independent of the executive branch of government, they are appointed for life, can be removed only for high crimes and misdemeanors, e.g., accepting bribes, and (b) sometimes intelligent people (such as you, me and the justices of the Supreme Court) can in good faith see things differently. A majority of the court (4 appointed by Democratic president, one appointed by a Republican president) found the Affordable Care Act (sometimes called “Obamacare”) constitutional. Get over it.
This whole thread is a chilul Hashem. I urge the YWN editors to remove it immediately.
Why, you ask, is this a chilul Hashem? Because this question should have been addressed and settled by the time Louis Pasteur announced the germ theory of disease in the 19th Century (or the 56th Century, if you prefer). It probably was addressed, and the halachic questions are well-settled, but a small handful of schmendricks think it is worth revisiting a century or more after it should have been – and surely was – settled.
And if there are some people at your synagogue who do not understand that they should not leave used tissues in a public place, ask them to find another place to daven.
There is nothing wrong with speaking Yiddish if you speak it well and want to reach only a Yiddish-speaking audience. Likewise, there is nothing wrong with speaking English if you speak it well and want to reach a major portion of the world. There is plenty wrong with speaking any language badly, because the speaker fails to convey his/her ideas clearly.
In my very limited experience, people who try to speak both languages do not speak English well, but I have no idea how clearly they speak Yiddish. Given the importance of English throughout the world in the 57th Century, it is important for the Jewish people to have a good command of English.